This paper studies how the gradual suspension of an employment guarantee scheme for
secondary and post-secondary graduates has affected intergenerational mobility across welleducated
cohorts in Egypt. The empirical results support suggestive evidence in the Middle
East of a decline in social mobility among the increasingly well-educated youth. The results
further indicate that unequal opportunities are due to difficulties in attaining high-level
occupations in the formal private sector for graduates from a lower socio-economic
background, and that personal connections may play a decisive role. Thus, aside from credit
market imperfections, labor market constraints may be important in explaining low social
mobility.